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Security

Cybersecurity is the rickety scaffolding supporting everything you do online. For every new feature or app, there are a thousand different ways it can break – and a hundred of those can be exploited by criminals for data breaches, identity theft, or outright cyber heists. Staying ahead of those exploits is a full-time job, and one of the most lucrative and sought-after skills in the tech industry. All too often, it’s something up-and-coming companies decide to skip out on, only to pay the price later on.

How to secure your phone before attending a protestHow to secure your phone before attending a protest
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The Verge guide to privacy and security
Barbara Krasnoff and Aliya ChaudhryCommentsComment Icon Bubble
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Cameron Faulkner
Meta and Yandex weren’t playing nice in the Android sandbox until researchers called them out.

Meta and Yandex were tracking Android users’ browsing data far more closely than they should have been, according to researchers. They bypassed the Android “sandbox” in some browsers, letting them de-anonymize users, track how they browse, and then use that data in native Facebook, Instagram, and Yandex apps.

Google is investigating the issue, saying that the companies used “capabilities present in many browsers across iOS and Android in unintended ways that blatantly violate our security and privacy principles.” In statements to Ars Technica, Meta and Yandex said they have discontinued the tracking, while denying wrongdoing.

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Andrew Liszewski
Murena’s privacy-focused mobile OS improves tablet support and parental controls.

The company behind the Murena 2 smartphone and de-Googled Pixel Tablet has announced a new version of its operating system: /e/OS 3.0. It will make better use of the larger screens on tablets and give parents new tools for limiting screen time and app access.

The update also introduces a way to locate a missing device using SMS text messages without the need for internet access, and a new search engine called Murena Find.

The Murena Pixel Tablet running the latest version of the company’s operating system.
Although Murena’s mobile OS has already been available on the company’s version of the Pixel Tablet, the latest version improves support for devices with larger screens.
Screenshot: YouTube
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Richard Lawler
Which fashion brand hasn’t been hacked recently?

On the list of apparel-related data breaches, Adidas was early to the trend. Then, the Victoria’s Secret website was offline for a few days last week as it dealt with a “security incident.”

Now, Bleeping Computer has two more to add to the list, reporting that Cartier has sent emails to customers informing them that info like name, email address, and country of residence was stolen, and that The North Face has apparently suffered its fourth reported credential stuffing incident since 2020.

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Andrew Liszewski
Adidas confirmed customer data was stolen in a cyber attack.

The company released a statement last week disclosing that an “unauthorized external party” managed to obtain “contact information relating to consumers who had contacted our customer service help desk in the past.”

Adidas says the data “does not contain passwords, credit card or any other payment-related information.” It has “launched a comprehensive investigation, collaborating with leading information security experts” and is “in the process of informing potentially affected consumers.”

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Cameron Faulkner
Several of CISA’s top officials are gone.

The tumultuous year under the Trump administration continues for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), as many senior officials across the agency have recently left, or will soon be leaving, according to a report by The Washington Post and cited by Cybersecurity Drive. These departures punctuate numerous setbacks the agency has faced since Trump took office, including being told to halt its election security efforts and almost lapsing the CVE program that some of the world’s biggest companies rely on to track cybersecurity vulnerabilities.

“It feels like the wrong people are leaving,” said a second CISA employee, who insisted on anonymity to speak freely. “All of these departures make it feel like people are leaving the mission and creating a vacuum.”

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Emma Roth
CBP stopped using TeleMessage’s Signal clone following news of a hack.

On Monday, a report from 404Media found that a hacker obtained direct messages and CBP contact information from TeleMessage after Mike Waltz was spotted using the company’s modified version of Signal.

Customs and Border Protection spokesperson Rhonda Lawson told Wired that the agency “immediately disabled” TeleMessage in response to the attack and that its “investigation into the scope of the breach is ongoing.”

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Tina Nguyen
Someone finally got canned for Signalgate (sort of).

Donald Trump announced Thursday that he would remove Michael Waltz as National Security Advisor and appoint him as ambassador to the United Nations. CBS reported earlier that Trump did not want to explicitly fire Waltz, the person who accidentally added The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg to the group chat, but waited several weeks before he could spin the demotion as part of a reorganization strategy at the National Security Council.

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Jess Weatherbed
Pyongyang on payroll.

The increase in AI tools, deepfake technology, and fully remote jobs following the covid pandemic has enabled a new kind of scam: workers who take jobs with US and European companies under false identities and send their salaries to the North Korean government.

The US government estimates that teams of pretenders can earn up to $3 million each year, and workers can go undetected at companies for many months.

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Emma Roth
Apple sends spyware warnings to more iPhone users.

Dutch right-wing activist Eva Vlaardingerbroek reported receiving a message from Apple, saying the company “detected a targeted mercenary spyware attack against your iPhone.” The message adds, “This attack is likely targeting you specifically because of who you are or what you do.”

Italian journalist Ciro Pellegrino reported receiving a similar message that indicated Apple had sent warnings to victims in 100 countries, as reported by TechCrunch. Apple last warned users about a spyware attack in July 2024.

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Richard Lawler
Donald Trump: “I would frankly tell these people not to use Signal.”

Trump’s interview with The Atlantic editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg (on purpose, this time) is now out. If you choose to use Signal, we have some advice on how, but here’s the president’s take:

Goldberg: But is there any policy lesson from that, that you’ve derived and have talked to Pete Hegseth about, and Mike Waltz?

Trump: I think we learned: Maybe don’t use Signal, okay? If you want to know the truth. I would frankly tell these people not to use Signal, although it’s been used by a lot of people. But, whatever it is, whoever has it, whoever owns it, I wouldn’t want to use it.

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Wes Davis
4chan explains why it went down for almost two weeks.

After posting to its blog for the first time in 8 years on Friday, 4chan published a new post explaining what took the site down on April 14th, as Engadget spotted. The social media site blames hackers uploading a “bogus PDF” that “exploited an out-of-date software package on one of 4chan’s servers.”

It’s back, but not all the way — as of this writing, images and the ability to post still haven’t returned.

Still standing

[blog.4chan.org]

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Jay Peters
Pixel Watches will be able to alert you of scam calls.

Google’s Scam Detection feature, which works on Pixel Watch 2 and 3 devices connected to a Pixel 9 and newer phone, will notify you if it thinks you’re talking to a scammer on a call, according to a support post.

Google Play services are also getting updates, including the ability to add a nickname to Wallet passes. And an Android security update addressed two issues that “may be under limited, targeted exploitation.”

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Dominic Preston
Apple Inc. v the UK government.

Apple has won its first legal battle over the UK’s demand for a backdoor to encrypted data: the right to tell everyone it’s happening. The Investigatory Powers Tribunal has ruled on whether Apple’s claim should be kept secret on national security grounds, and Apple won.

That doesn’t bring it any closer to restoring ADP encryption in the UK, nor does it mean hearings will be public, but this open secret is a little more open.

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Richard Lawler
Everyone gets pwned eventually.

After years of providing breach notifications and useful advice about how to avoid getting hacked, Have I Been Pwned operator Troy Hunt’s personal blog mailing list has become the source of a breach after he fell for a fake spam alert phishing attack this week. He has notified subscribers, and is following up for people who unsubscribed but still had data stored by his provider, Mailchimp.

Read the blog post for details on how they got him (listen to your password manager), how it could’ve been avoided (passkeys!), and what else there is to learn.

Screenshot of email reading “You signed up for notifications when emails on troyhunt.com were pwned in a data breach and unfortunately, it’s happened.”
TroyHunt.com on HIBP
Image: Troy Hunt (X)